1. Field
The present disclosure generally relates to computer systems, and more particularly to the use of a computer system to monitor a location of an individual.
2. Description of the Related Art
Many detention environments attempt to keep an updated record of a location of individuals (or “residents”) at the facility in order to provide appropriate limited access to the individual to items or spaces in the facility. In order to maintain the record, the detention environment (or “controlled facility”), which may be a correctional facility (e.g., detention center, jail, or prison), military installation, or even secure office location, commonly requires facility staff to manually update the location of individuals in the facility in a legacy system. For example, in a correction facility, a jail management system is manually updated with recent user (e.g., a resident or inmate) location data, such as an identification of the cell or “home room” to which the resident is assigned.
In many cases, because the updates of an individual's location are input manually by facility staff, the location of the individual recorded in the legacy system is often in disagreement with the actual location of the individual. The incorrect information can last from a period of a few minutes to many days or weeks. The out-of-date information can cause denial of access to items or physical spaces the individual would otherwise have access to if the legacy system were updated with the individual's current location.
For example, in a correction facility, there are often a limited number of communication terminals (e.g., telephones, video visitation stations, etc.) by which a large number of residents may communicate with visitors, family, and friends. As residents usually do not have access to terminals outside the physical space in which they reside, a resident must commonly reserve a terminal or book use of the terminal (e.g., by walking up to and laying claim to the terminal) at a time for a scheduled visit so as to ensure the availability of the terminal to the resident. Furthermore, to allow incoming telephone calls to be routed to a terminal that the resident to whom the call is intended has access to, particularly those telephone calls that are not pre-scheduled, it is necessary to know which location the resident is currently in. Residents who are unable to make or receive telephone calls or video visitations after being moved to a new location are likely to file formal complaints stating that they are unable to contact friends, family, or legal representation for some period after being moved. These complaints tie up the valuable time of facility staff, for example, to arrange an update for a resident's location identified in the jail management system, and these complaints cause both the facility and communications provider to incur costs, such as legal costs or other related costs.